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Posted By: Marty Highway To Cancun Collapses - 08/28/15 10:53 AM

What some are calling a "cenote" has appeared in the middle of the Playa del Carmen-Cancun highway today at around four in the morning. The sinkhole suddenly appeared according to reports and caused the total collapse of a twelve meter section of the road in both directions. The situation reportedly caused chaos as all four lanes of the highway have been affected. The road dropped about 2.5 meters in an area of cenotes, or natural sinkholes hear the Hotel Iberostar. It is estimated that some 3.5 tons of asphalt was displaced. Reports indicate that one person sustained minor injuries. Authorities have been working to restore traffic and have suggested alternate routes.

CTV3


Important information for those travelling via Cancun Intl Airport.

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Cancun, Q.R. - The Federal Highway between Playa del Carmen and Puerto Morelos remains closed due to the collapse of the road. A large portion of the highway has collapsed, leaving a hole of 10 meters wide and approximately one meter deep. The closure of the highway has caused massive traffic congestion for locals as well as travelers trying to get to the Cancun International Airport.

The Federal Highway between Playa del Carmen and Puerto Morelos remains closed due to the collapse of the road.


COLLAPSE OF FEDERAL HIGHWAY CAUSING MAJOR PROBLEMS

A large portion of the highway has collapsed, leaving a hole of 10 meters wide and approximately one meter deep. The closure of the highway has caused massive traffic congestion for locals as well as travelers trying to get to the Cancun International Airport.

Eduardo Rivadeneira N��ez, a spokesman for Aeropuertos del Sureste (Asur), said "The counters that are open three hours early for international flights and two hours early for domestic as well are doing well."

People are advised to use the alternative Xcan- Playa highway route to get to Cancun while work is being done to repair the main Federal highway. Although some light vehicles are being allowed to pass, authorities are urging people to use the alternate highway to reach Cancun.

Francisco Elizondo Garrido, Chief of the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT), reported that they have negotiated with the ICA Group of the new Xcan-Playa del Carmen highway and have agreed to cancel the road tolls for this emergency.

"ICA agreed to cancel payment for this emergency", confirmed the governor.

Director of the Cancun International Airport, Carlos Trueba Coll, said that all the airlines are aware of road collapse and are trying to add additional flights to accommodate affected passengers.

In the meantime, ADO is continuing with its Playa to Cancun airport transfers. They said that due to the collapse of the road, they are rerouting their buses to use the alternate route but there will not be an increase in fares. ADO passengers are asked to take into consideration the additional 40 minutes of travel time it will take to reach the airport. Both ADO terminals in Playa del Carmen will continue to offer their usual Cancun airport service, leaving every 15 minutes.

The sinkhole in the highway was reported at about 2:30 on Thursday morning. Work has begun on repairing the road.

More HERE



For those tourist and Belizeans travelling from Corozal to Cancun note that a portion of the Playa Del Carmen/Cancun highway has collapsed behind the Hotel Mayan Palace/Iberostar. Please exercise caution when travelling to this area right now.

A detour has been provided through the Nuevo Xcan-Playa Del Carmen highway.

We wish to share our immediate actions taken in conjunction with our Federal Government to mitigate the collapse of the Playa Del Carmen/Cancun Highway.

1: SCT has cancelled the toll fee collection on the Nuevo Xcan-Playa del Carmen route

2: Currently one lane for the eventual passage of vehicles is enabled

3: The detour is suprevised by a joint operation with the PF and Public Safety

4: Cancun Airport director has spoken to all the airlines in order to enable all their counters and streamline the operation

5: The SCT is taking the necessary machinery to temporarily rehabilitate the collapsed section

6: It is exploring the possibility that people have to take their flights to arrive at the scene and walk pass and be received for a second transport to take them to the airport in Cancun

Note: The detour on the map is highlighted in blue.


Posted By: Inplub Re: Highway To Cancun Collapses - 08/28/15 11:54 AM
We came down the highway last Saturday.
Posted By: Short Re: Highway To Cancun Collapses - 09/08/15 12:48 AM
Checked the news on the highway and noticed that there are no updates on our Message Board, so I'm taking the liberty to do that now:
Originally Posted by Riviera Maya News
FEDERAL HIGHWAY TO CANCUN RESTORED
Diego L�pez | August 28, 2015

[Linked Image]Cancun, Q.R. - The main Federal Highway that runs between Cancun and Tulum has been restored and reopened to traffic.

Authorities worked feverishly around the clock to repair and reopen the main Riviera Maya highway that collapsed the day before, leading south out of Cancun to the towns of Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

Around 2:00 p.m. Friday, the highway was restored and opened to all traffic.

The road was closed early Thursday morning after motorists called in, reporting a massive sinkhole that stretched across the highway. Only one small section of the road remained intact enough for small cars and other lightweight vehicles to pass one at a time.

The sinkhole was the result of a cenote that caved in due to an underground river system. Jorge Filiberto Poot P�rez, president of the Alliance of Associations of Civil Engineers Quintana Roo, explained that sometimes the process of adding soil is omitted to save on resources.

Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT) studied that portion of the road for stability and says that the construction of that stretch of highway consists of a large amount of underground caves or cenotes. The caving in of major roadways is common in the state, with at least one occurance per year in the capital city of Chetumal.

The sinkhole along the Federal Highway disrupted traffic for workers and tourists alike. In the meantime, motorists were urged to use the alternate toll road.

http://www.riviera-maya-news.com/federal-highway-to-cancun-restored/2015.html


Originally Posted by Riviera Maya News
AUTHORITIES INSPECTING ALL 360 KILOMETERS OF FEDERAL HIGHWAY
Ra�l Algaza | August 29, 2015

[Linked Image]Cancun, Q.R. - The Ministry of Communications and Transport (SCT) is gearing up to conduct a complete study of all 360 kilometers of the federal highway.

"The study will be conducted so that this never happens again," said Francisco Elizondo Garrido, director general of the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation (SCT). However, the agency said that for now, only the affected section be revised.

Since Thursday, more than 20 technical specialists have performed local soil studies in the area. They're expected to have their independent results reported back within two weeks.

"As far as we can see, this is an area in which circulating underground rivers was the natural cause for the road to sink," he said.

According to the state government, there is an alternative satellite project for Cancun / Playa del Carmen, which will be presented to the SCT. Francisco Elizondo Garrido says they know about the proposal and the possible project, but will wait for the results of the analysis to determine its feasibility.

The Thursday morning collapse of the federal highway between Puerto Morelos and Playa del Carmen was repaired by Friday afternoon. Crews added two new lanes, one in each direction, while during the night, they continued to build an additional two lanes.

Officials estimated that there were approximately 30,000 drivers affected by the collapse of the highway. Carlos Garcia Miranda, director of Tr�nsito de la Secretar�a de Seguridad P�blica y Tr�nsito Municipal (Smspyt) - Ministry of Traffic and Public Security - says on an average day, the federal highway between Cancun and Playa del Carmen sees about 2,000 vehicles per hour.

Of those, approximately 40 percent of traffic are passenger vans, 38 percent private cars and taxis, 20 percent are cargo / dump trucks and 2 percent are motorcycles.

http://www.riviera-maya-news.com/au...-kilometers-of-federal-highway/2015.html

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